| December 2002 |
| Date | Lesson Title | Scripture | Word to Live By | Sesson Truth |
| 12/1 | The Thief and the Centurion | Luke 23:32-49 | For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). | God's strategy of reconciling the world to himself, not by the coercive power of superior force but by the gentle power of suffering love, reaches its ultimate expression in Jesus' sacrificial atoning death on the Cross. |
| 12/8 | The Tax Collector | Luke 19:1-10 | Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst (1 Timothy 1:15). | In His relationship to Zacchaeus, Jesus reveals the great heart of God who accepts sinners just as they are, but who does not leave them just as they are. |
| 12/15 | A Sad Widow and a Puzzled Prophet | Luke 7:11-23 | Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, and eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Corinthians 5:1). | In life and in death, Jesus is Lord. "He who believes in me will live," He promised, "even though he dies" (John 11:25). |
| 12/22 | The Shepherds | Luke 2:8-20 | For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). | The astonishing new revelation embodied in the Christmas story is that, in the words of the second-century church father, Irenaeus, "The Son of God became a son of man, in order that sons of men might become sons of God." |
| 12/29 | The Disciples | Luke 24:36-53 | God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact (Acts 2:32). | The center point of Christian doctrine and life is that God has raised up His Son Jesus bodily from the grave in order to provide salvation for all. |
| January 2003 |
| Date | Lesson Title | Scripture | Word to Live By | Sesson Truth |
| 1/5 | "Blessed Is . . ." | Psalm 1:1-6 | Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers (Psalm 1:1-3). | God wills our spiritual and eternal well-being, and has given us clear instructions on how to attain and maintain a program of "spritual wellness." |
| 1/12 | "Will You Forget Me Forever?" | Psalm 13:1-6 | "I will never leave you nor forsake you . . . Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:5c, 9c). | While His presence and benefits may at times seem at a distance, God never forgets us. |
| 1/19 | "Why Are You Downcast, O My Soul?" | Psalm 42:1-11 | Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God (Psalm 42:5). | Our sense of hope and encouragement is directly related to our desire to be filled with an ever-increasing hunger and greater thirst for God. |
| 1/26 | When God Seems Unfair | Psalm 73:1-28 | My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26) | Thoughwe sometimes envy the prosperity of the wicked, nothing on heaven or earth is more desireable than God. |
| February 2003 |
| Date | Lesson Title | Scripture | Word to Live By | Sesson Truth |
| 2/2 | The Lord Reigns | Psalm 97:1-12 | The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, adn he will reign for ever adn ever (Revelation 11:15) | The central affirmation and bedrock conviction of bibilical faith is that, against all appearances to the contrary, "The Lord reigns." |
| 2/9 | He Will Not Slumber | Psalm 121:1-8 | For I am convinced that neither death nor life . . . nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38a-39) | God's providential care does not guarantee exemption from the hazards of life, but it does guarantee His powerful presence through and beyond them. |
| 2/16 | Streams in the Desert | Psalm 126:1-6 | For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100:5) | We are called to live in a creative tension between the memory of God's great saving deeds of the past and our hope of everything reaching its final consummation in Christ. |
| 2/23 | Every Day I Will Praise You | Psalm 145:1-21 | Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom (Psalm 145:3) | Psalm 145 calls us to live in the joyous atmosphere of God's greatness, compassion, and glory. |
